Gregg Berhalter has been fired as coach of the U.S. males’s nationwide soccer workforce following a disappointing efficiency within the Copa America.
The U.S. Soccer Federation introduced the firing Wednesday after a dismal group stage exit within the event hosted on U.S. soil.
“We are actually targeted on working with our Sporting Director Matt Crocker and leveraging his expertise on the highest ranges of the game to make sure we discover the correct particular person to guide the USMNT into a brand new period of on-field success,” U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone mentioned in a press release asserting Berhalter’s departure.
The U.S. opened final month’s Copa America play with a gentle 2-0 win in opposition to Bolivia within the event that includes groups from South America, Central America, North America and the Caribbean.
Many pundits projected the U.S. workforce as one of many two groups anticipated to advance from the opening spherical in Group C.
However its 2-1 loss to Panama on June 27 largely diminished the workforce’s possibilities of shifting on. The sport was marred by a Tim Weah pink card after he threw a punch at a Panamanian participant. The infraction left the U.S. workforce down a person solely 18 minutes into the sport. José Fajardo scored within the 83rd minute to seal the sport for Panama.
The U.S. was then bounced from the event after a 1-0 loss on July 1 to perennial South American powerhouse Uruguay, a 15-time Copa America champion.
The event was the final probability the U.S. needed to face sturdy worldwide competitors in official video games forward of the 2026 World Cup, which it should host with Mexico and Canada. The early exit was extensively thought to be an indication of regression following the 2022 World Cup, when Berhalter was additionally on the helm of the U.S. workforce.
Berhalter, 50, was the primary American to educate the nationwide workforce after having performed for the workforce at a World Cup. He was employed to educate the U.S. in December 2018 after stints with Sweden’s Hammarby (2011-13) and Main League Soccer’s Columbus Crew (2013-18).
Berhalter was introduced in to guide a generational revamp of the U.S. soccer program, with a younger crop of Individuals like Weah, Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams and Antonee Robinson discovering common recreation time at their golf equipment in Europe.
He led the U.S. to 2 CONCACAF Nations League titles, in addition to a 2021 Gold Cup.
Within the 2022 World Cup, the U.S. workforce made it out of its group — which additionally featured England, Wales and Iran — however was knocked out within the spherical of 16 in a 3-1 loss to the Netherlands.
Following that World Cup exit, some gamers strongly supported Berhalter in public, saying he fostered a tradition that sure the group.
That assist led to Berhalter being rehired 5 months after his preliminary contract expired amid an investigation of a decades-old home violence incident involving Berhalter and the lady who would later change into his spouse. A legislation agency retained by the us mentioned there was no authorized threat in bringing Berhalter again, concluding that “the 1992 Incident was an remoted occasion, and we discover no proof to recommend that Mr. Berhalter has engaged in related misconduct at every other time.”
Crocker, the federation’s sporting director, had indicated that the current Copa America efficiency “fell wanting our expectations.”
Lower than two years stay earlier than the World Cup involves American soil for the second time. The Individuals play their opener on June 12, 2026, in Inglewood, California.
“Our fast focus is on discovering a coach who can maximize our potential as we proceed to arrange for the 2026 World Cup, and we’ve already begun our search course of,” Crocker mentioned after the announcement of Berhalter’s departure.